a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a device for coupling loading and unloading devices with semiconductor processing machines to enable retrofitting of such machines with SMIF technology while taking into account ergonomic requirements.
b) Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture of integrated circuits, semiconductor wafers must be transported between different processing steps to individual processing machines. This is effected to an increasing extent in standardized transport containers, so-called Standard Mechanical Interface boxes (SMIF boxes), since, instead of optimizing conventional clean rooms by way of higher grades of purity to achieve greater density of integration, rigorously implemented use of enclosures or the use of SMIF technology in semiconductor processing machines provides a way to achieve higher yields at reasonable cost.
The magazine having shelves in which the semiconductor wafers are located is attached in a suitable manner to the bottom of the SMIF box which has a relatively small closed volume.
In order to charge the processing machines, the magazines are unloaded from the transport containers, e.g., by a loading and unloading device according to German Patent 43 26 309 C1 or a device performing a different sequence of operations, and is placed in the processing machine. After the semiconductor wafers are processed, the magazines are transported back in the transport containers. Since the spatial arrangement of the loading and unloading devices is normally governed by the processing cycle in the machine, charging of the loading and unloading device with magazines or with magazines in transport containers and accordingly manual charging of the processing machines becomes problematic as the dimensions of the semiconductor wafers increase.
Particular problems arise when semiconductor manufacturing machines are to be retrofitted with SMIF technology, since subsequent constructional integration is possible only in very rare cases.